Blue Apron Reports Revenue Losses in Q4

While work-from-home schedules and at-home meals continue for consumers, Blue Apron said these trends helped elevate customer engagement metrics despite revenue losses in the company's fourth quarter of fiscal 2021. 

For the period ending Dec. 31, Blue Apron said revenues decreased by 7% to $107 million, and its net loss was $26.4 million. The company lost $11.9 million in the same period of 2020. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter showed a loss $17.9 million, compared with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Linda Findley, Blue Apron’s president and CEO, said in a statement, “We completed a truly exciting quarter, during which we completed a $78 million equity capital raise that sets us up to accelerate our growth strategy and aggressively execute against the next step in our company’s evolution. Our strategy of offering greater menu choice, variety and flexibility, along with high-quality ingredients, continued to resonate with customers in the fourth quarter.”

The New York-based meal kit company said key customer engagement metrics performed well, reflecting continued traction of the company’s growth strategy. The average order value reached $63.78, up 10% from fourth-quarter 2019 and the highest level since the company started tracking the metric in 2015.

“We believe customization and flexibility are paramount, and we plan to continue developing new recipes and formats that meet the evolving needs of our customers’ tastes and preferences,” Findley said.

The company is expecting sales growth will improve in the current quarter as marketing expenses rose 68% year-over-year to $21 million as the company looks to drive growth due to marketing spend.

The company said its environmental, social and governance (ESG) remains on pace to meet its goal of being carbon neutral by March 31 of this year. The company said it expects that this will initially be accomplished through the purchase of carbon offsets based on its initial estimated carbon footprint. In the fourth quarter, the company implemented a wage increase to a minimum of $18 per hour for all hourly employees.